Forked Lightning
by PuzzleRaven
Summary: Max Anders cannot accept his ex-wife's new boyfriend, and he'll use all the power at his disposal to take him down.
1. Chapter 1

**Forked Lightning**

Max Anders put the phone down. Kayden's new beau was a problem. It was bad enough that his ex-wife had replaced him, but that she had done it with someone in the same social circles was an insult. He was supposed to be her ticket to status and respect, her only chance to be something more than an obscure designer. When she'd turned up at the Mayor's Gala on the arm of that alleged CEO, he'd wanted to hit her. At first he'd been convinced she'd chosen the man just to get back at him for Nessa and Jess, but when his inferior had to gall to smile and say Kayden had traded up, and have the Mayor's wife giggle delightedly and go to spread the rumours...

Hookwolf demanded Kayden's boyfriend's death for insulting the Empire and Max had been pleased to agree, with orders to make it ignominous, painful, and public. Whatever had brought the CEO out of his protective obscurity, it would be completely understandable that the Empire should make an example of this living affront to their beliefs. Anders had even set aside funds to buy the firms out, saving the jobs of the right sort of people, while cementing his holding on another sector of the city.

He didn't understand why the plan was failing, and this was becoming frustrating. He'd sent Cricket to the man's house, but somehow he had been warned and hadn't been there. Trying to hit his corporate HQ had failed, his spies barred from any sensitive information. He was certain they hadn't been detected, but they hadn't been able to access anywhere useful.

When Hookwolf had seen the man out walking with what was presumably his bodyguard, he had attacked, and now Hookwolf was in PRT custody due to a trap set by Ms Militia and Armsmaster. It was only then he'd thought to check, and sure enough among the government construction works were PRT contracts.

And now Kayden had defied him over Aster and Theo. He had to break this up before Kayden slipped his grasp completely. Establishment to the core, the boyfriend actually had the funds to fight Max in court, doubtless why she had attached herself to him. She had already been coached, it was obvious from the wording, trying to set verbal traps for him that he believed he had evaded. In the photo frame on his desk, blades sprouted as he watched, slicing the image of their wedding apart into strips.

#

Kayden finished dusting the blush on her cheeks and checked herself in the mirror. She'd do. "Theo, there's $30 on the table, get yourself some food and a film."

"Sure." The reply came from the living room, where he was playing with Aster on the floor. Kayden smiled, about to say something, and the doorbell rang. She paused, swallowed, and Theo looked up. He was almost smiling. "You look great." Encouraged, she drew herself up and opened the apartment door. Her date was waiting, suited, smart, but the lines in his face were deeper.

"Are you okay? You look tired." That was not how she was supposed to greet him. Max would have taken it badly, but he smiled.

"Bad day at the office." He gave her a peck on the cheek and produced a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. Roses and asters, and she smiled as she smelt the sweet scent. Standing aside she let him in and shut the door. "New information, so I had to revise my plans."

"Max phoned," she said, wanting to get it out of the way as she found a vase and slid the flowers in. "I told him what we agreed."

"Good. Did you record it?" She nodded, still feeling like a traitor. He put his arm round her. "Well done. I know it's hard, but it is for Aster."

"Yes. For Aster. And Theo."

"Given his age, Theo gets his own representation, and a say in court over who he lives with," he said, smoothly. She heard the sudden, hopeful, gasp from the next room. "Trust me and you'll get custody of both. If Theo wants." She smiled, wondering how she'd been so lucky to get a man like this in her life. A better person than Max by far, and someone who could actually fight him. "Anyway, f-forget about Max. What do you want for Christmas?"

"Max out of my life, custody of Aster and Theo, a wonderful partner..." she trailed off, wondering if she was too forward, but he smiled.

"One thing at a time."

"What would you like?" she asked, hoping she wouldn't put him off. He pulled back and gave her an exaggerated look up and down from top to bottom. She giggled, feeling like a girl again instead of a mother of two.

"One thing at a time," she joked, and wondered how she'd come so far from the Empire ideals she'd even consider this. He smirked and produced two tickets to the exclusive opening of the new design gallery.

"Ready, Kayden?" He offered an arm. She threaded hers through his, enjoying the contrast of his dark fingers as they lay across her pale skin.

"Certainly, Thomas."


	2. Chapter 2

**Forked Lightning**

Thomas pulled the Prius over. His face was set. "It seems someone's been stepping this up. All the movers and shakers are there."

Kayden looked ahead at the press gathered round what was supposed to be a low-key opening, ideal for their planned, quiet, date. Someone had set up red carpet at the top, the Mayor was greeting a dignitary while the rather star-struck artist hovered disbelieving. The press crowded like vultures at the bottom.

"If you'd prefer a quiet date…" Thomas suggested, picking up on her dismay.

"No." Kayden said it before she even knew she'd made the decision. "No, I wanted to see the art, and I'm not letting Max Anders get in the way."

"Good." He smiled at her and she returned the look, squaring her shoulders. "Then we should show up in style." He pressed a quickdial on his phone. "Driver, signal the limo, and tell them plan 3B4."

"You planned for this?" she said, surprised, as he pulled away, turning the corner before they reached the entrance.

"I plan for everything." He turned again, pulled up by the kerb behind a large limo and stepped out, as a dark-clad man opened her door. She saw the bulge of the gun inside his jacket, but the hand he helped her out with was genuine, and he was deferring to Thomas. As Thomas held the back door of the limo for her, he tossed the Prius keys to the man and her date smiled. "Your ex being a bastard is one of the more obvious contingencies."

As she sat down, turning to lift her feet into the limo, she glanced back and saw the man who'd helped her slip behind the Prius' wheel. Thomas closed her door, and got in the other side.

"Ready?" she said, expecting his agreement. Instead he signalled the driver to wait.

"Kayden, I might be overstepping, but as lovely as you look, you didn't come equipped for Max." Grimacing, she agreed. Jess and Nessa would be done up to the nines.

"I don't care."

"I do." He reached under the seat and handed her a plain box with a brass fastening. "Don't get excited, these are on loan."

She opened the plain box and gasped.

"How did you get-?" Tiffany's, the latest collection. She'd seen them in the design magazines, but now she was holding them.

"Wealth hath its privileges," he teased, and then looked curious. "Didn't Max ever-?"

"No. No," she said, blunting an old pain "not for me." For her it had been the family jewellery from the Anders' vault. She'd been star-struck, awed, the first time she'd seen it. It felt like being given the key to the crown jewels. Max had said she would have the pick of the collection, but she'd never had. Wear what he chose or don't go.

"Kayden? Kayden?" She realised she had blanked out, and Thomas looked concerned. "You don't have to wear them if you don't want to." And in a few words, Thomas moved himself a world away from Max. She smiled, leaned forward and kissed him.

"No, I want to." She unclipped her necklace, removed her earrings. "Thank you." He smiled, fastening the necklace into place, letting his hands stroke her neck as he pulled back. The earrings and bracelets followed. She felt like a million dollars. She was wearing several.

"Ready?" he asked, and she smiled, head up.

"Ready." He rapped twice on the partition to the front and the car pulled away.

#

"Kayden, thank you." The artist rushed up at the top of the stairs.

"I didn't do anything," she said truthfully. "Make the best of it." He would she knew. This type of exposure was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an artist and the guaranteed newspaper features would raise his profile. The business that resulted could make his career.

"But Kay, I'm sorry. I can't give you the tour I promised." He looked desperately at the crowd of the wealthy inside, and she smiled. The connections and commissions here would set up his future, particularly if one or two visitors went home with his pieces.

"Do it tomorrow. And I hope you'll be showing me blank walls."

"Will do. And thank you again, I never dreamed you had some much pull." She didn't, but she knew the bastard that did. As Chris hurried off delighted, she set her smile, placed her arm deliberately through Thomas' to a flurry of renewed camera flashes and walked in through the ropes by the entrance.

"Do I have competition?" Calvert sounded amused and she chuckled.

"Oh hush, I've known Chris for years." And hadn't spoken to him for most of that, another thing to lay at Max's door. How many friendships had she broken off in school because he said they weren't the right type? Why had she believed him over her own common sense? Charisma, and his horrible knack of saying just the right thing. It wasn't just his doing though. She'd been so flattered by his attentions, he'd seemed so much more mature, leaving her stunned the Medhall heir could take an interest in mousy, plain, her. She'd have done anything for his attention, which was ironic since now she'd rather be anywhere else than gliding across the floor to deal with exactly that.

"Hello, Max," she said, ignoring Jessica's stately figure on his arm.

"Kayden, how delightful to see you." There was no rudeness there, just the faint reserve society expected between divorcees. He didn't even acknowledge that she was on the arm of another man.

"Likewise, and unexpected."

"Why unexpected? Everyone who is anyone is here." And you invited most of them, you lying bastard, she thought, keeping it off her face.

"And some who aren't anyone?" she said, regretting it immediately as his expression darkened.

Max's casual glance at her necklace was anything but. The metal prickled against her skin, and she hoped she was imagining it. She didn't dare raise her own power in here, not without outing herself.

"Kayden, dear." Thomas, to her rescue. "Max, a pleasure to see you."

"And you." Max's voice was smooth, "So defence and construction? We were all surprised when Citadel came out of the wings."

"In business, Mr Anders, timing is everything when chasing contracts. I'm sure Medhall is familiar with that."

"Most definitely, Mr Calvert." Max shook his head slowly. "The slightest hint of scandal and those government contracts dry up."

"I keep my nose clean." Thomas said with a smile as smooth as Max's sympathy. "I've always thought the pharmaceuticals business must be fraught. A few bad reviews in the media, and your customerbase evaporates." Max was too consummate an actor to react, turning to hand his empty glass to Jessica in a signal the conversation was over.

"Take good care of Kayden," he said, as if she wasn't standing there.

"The best." Thomas held out his hand, and Max shook it politely. If the grip was held a shade longer than polite, two sets of knuckles whitening, no one who didn't know Max as well as she did would have noticed. Then simultaneously, they let go as the camera flash went off.

"So, joint ventures in the offing?" Mayor Christner's smiling interruption didn't manage to cut the tension, even as the photographer trailing him snapped another shot. As the Mayor's wife moved into position next to her, Kayden switched to her society smile. She hadn't voted for Roy Christner, and she still didn't like him.

"I think it's a little early to be discussing that," Thomas deflected, as Max took a new drink from Jessica.

"Our industries don't cross," Max agreed easily.

"You should consider it," the Mayor said, "With Medhall as one of the larger employers in the city, and with Citadel such a large part of the construction sector, you have so much in common." Kayden looked at Thomas, wondering if she should cut in, but he seemed quite at ease. If Max extended a sliver of metal from a button or a tie-pin into his heart he'd die instantly but she couldn't think of a way to warn him. The Mayor's wife moved round them, smiling the society hostess's smile as she expertly cut between Kayden and Thomas.

"Shall we leave you gentlemen to discuss it? Kayden and I can take in the art." Letting the men speak, or at least removing an impediment to easy discussion of whatever the Mayor wanted. She'd hated these high society games when she was married to Max. Thomas nodded.

"Why not? We can deal with the boring business, and the ladies have a good time." Thomas seemed quite relaxed. Telling herself it would be too obvious for Max to kill him here, she let herself be lead away.

"Kayden, I'm so glad they're getting along well." The Mayor's wife couldn't really be as oblivious as she looked. Now if only she could remember the woman's name. "Tell me, did you meet Thomas before you and Max..." Oh, she didn't. Was that the poison Max was spreading?

"No, and to be honest I wouldn't have been interested if I had. I was devoted to Max, even with-" she threw a sharp glance to Jessica, attentively attached to Max's side and the Mayor's wife drew in a sympathetic breath. Let them think she'd left Max for jealousy. If he tried to claim she'd cheated, she'd expose him for the cheat he was. "No, I met Thomas a few months ago. I was out with Aster and a thug stole my purse. The next thing I know this man chased him down and gave it back to me."

"Oh how thrilling! Did you know who he was?"

"No, he was in his PRT gear." She smiled genuinely this time, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "He looks good in a uniform." The Mayor's wife tittered, and she knew that little titbit would have done the rounds by the end of the evening.

"And better with it off?" It was Kayden's turn to laugh. She'd had a shock when the helmet came off, but when his other hand was holding out her purse, his knee was on the back of a purse snatcher, and he was tousled and imperfect and so very much Max's opposite...

"He has his good points."

"Do tell." The Mayor's wife was definitely being too friendly and ears were flapping.

"Not being scared off by two children."

"Oh, I thought you and Max only had the one." The Mayor's wife was fishing, and Kayden went gleefully for the hook.

"Theo, Max's son. He's staying with me and his half-sister." She said no more. The rumour mill cementing the idea of the family link, and that Theo was staying with her, would do enough to help the custody case.

Heels clicked on the floor towards them, and she moved aside to allow Jessica to join them. Banished from the men's circle as well, she noted privately, unless Max had sent her because he was worried about what Kayden might say to the Mayor's wife. Even with heels, the blonde's greater height left her overshadowed, but not, thanks to Thomas' little loan, outshone.

"Jessica, you look delightful," she said, sincerely, admiring the design aesthetics despite her distaste for the woman in them.

"So do you. Costume jewellery can be so marvellous these days," Jess replied, peering down her nose at Kayden. Kayden's smile never wavered, even as she saw Max looking on.

"Oh Jess, dear, you don't get to see Tiffany's very often do you?" Kayden said, as vapid as the Mayor's own wife. "It's this season's collection." She knew she was being a bitch, and she loved every minute of it. Jessica could only hope to score cheap points in a war of words, and she was already losing that. If it came to a real fight, they both knew who'd win.

"Oh, they're lovely," the Mayor's wife cut in. "Where did you get them, or shouldn't I ask?"

"From Thomas." Jessica's face was expressionless, but her eyes shot daggers.

"You have him wrapped round your little finger." The Mayor's wife giggled.

"Hardly." She was hardly going to say she was giving them back with Jessica right there. "I think he just wanted to show off."

"Well, he couldn't wear them himself." Kayden laughed politely as Jessica smiled.

"I could, but I think they look much better on Kayden." As the Mayor's wife jumped, long experience with Cricket's sudden appearances kept Kayden poised and unruffled as Thomas spoke from behind her. She turned, smiled, and graciously made space for him in the conversation, but he had other ideas. "If your companions will excuse us, shall we see the art?"

She smilled, took his arm and allowed him to escort her to the display pieces. This evening really was turning around.

#

A kiss goodbye on the doorstep and she was up the stairs and back into her apartment with an energy she didn't know she had. She only just remembered not to call a greeting as she opened the door. She wasn't a girl anymore and Aster would be sleeping. Theo was lying on the couch, watching a movie with the sound turned right down, something Japanese with subtitles. Looking panicked, he jumped for the remote control the second he saw she'd seen it. Kayden grimaced, ready to say something like "know thy enemy" and changed her mind.

"I won't tell if you don't." His father would be furious, but Max didn't need to know, and who was she to stand on the Empire's ideals? Hanging up her coat, she kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag, checking in on Aster who was sleeping peacefully in her cot.

Finally letting the evening catch up with her, she sat down on the end of the couch.

"So how did-" Theo stopped, his eyes dropping to her throat, and pointed. "That's not yours."

"Oh, yes, Thomas lent it to me for the evening." And she'd need to get them back to him. An excuse to see him again, if he'd believe she didn't really mean to walk off with hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewellery.

"Lent?" Theo was gaping, and she ran a finger over the jewels possessively, feeling like a film star. "Like they do on the red carpet?"

"Max showed up." Theo's expression wiped immediately, back to the blank mask his father had beaten him into. He looked down, diverting his gaze from her before he spoke.

"Thomas isn't leaving is he? He must have been angry."

"Hardly." Her smile got wider. "Max showed up, so Thomas showed him up." Theo took a second to get it, and then she saw him grin. He hid it just as quickly, but it was nice to see some spark in him his father hadn't driven out.

"Isn't accepting jewellery a big step?" Kayden remembered Jessica's face in the first unguarded moment the Valkyrie had seen the necklace and smiled.

"I'm giving it back. And believe me, Theo, it was so, very, very, worth it."

#

Coil steepled fingers as he smiled behind his mask. A carefully managed rumour and a word in the right ear had ensured Anders and many others had had to arrive at the social event of the month. He'd gained no information, but Max was angry and off-balance and events with Kayden were progressing nicely. Protected in his base in this reality after cancelling on her he'd had time to plan his strategies, and in the other the evening had gone better than he thought.

He'd wait until his other self was somewhere secure before he collapsed this reality and divided worlds again, one self going home to get a good night's sleep, the other going to the Rig in an early start. The PRT Headquarters was a safe alternative if the Empire decided to hit him at home, in revenge for his flirting with Kayden right in front of them. Ah, Kayden.

She'd left with the jewellery as he had planned. It would make an excellent excuse to see her sooner than was conventionally polite. He'd turn up, tomorrow, suitably contrite and ask for its return for the sake of the loan. Kayden didn't need to know he'd bought the pieces outright. He wasn't having her, and by extension himself, shadowed all evening by a bodyguard he didn't own. With depreciation, jewellery was a useful tax write-off, and easily liquidated funds if he had to run.

If his plans worked out, it also would make a suitably sentimental anniversary gift. After all why should he do anything if he couldn't benefit from it twice?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Alone at his desk, he crumpled the paper. Max Anders and his supermodels pushed off the top by his mousy ex-wife in an off-the-shelf dress with borrowed jewellery. It was humiliating.

That thing, that upstart, had a weapon he had not considered. The wives. Jess and Nessa sent the right message to the men, but with Kayden present the wives were rallying behind her to send their own: if you dump us, there are more CEOs we can date. As the intercom chimed, he put the newspaper down, resisting the urge to tear it in half. Whether Max Anders or Kaiser, such a display of rage would make him seem weak to his subordinates.

"Come," he said, standing by the window. It was a good visual, Max Anders in silhouette against the backdrop of the city, and knowing he had the appearance of control did much to restore his composure. The office door opened.

"You've seen this?" Nessa said, holding a copy of the same thrice-damned paper as she stepped inside.

"Flavour of the month," he dismissed. "The papers like something new. He'll fade quickly enough. Besides, attention on him is attention not on us."

"Good, because there is a problem." She offered an envelope without flinching, back straight. None of the cowering or weakness he'd seen in Theo. He took it, leafing through the official documentation and raised an eyebrow as he read the notice of investigation into Medhall.

Racketeering? Max dropped the paperwork on the desk and smiled. No matter.

"Calvert's work," Max said, confidently. "Take the usual precautions." He had breakpoints in place, loyal men to take the fall if anything was found, so he and the company need not be implicated. This wasn't a serious play against him. For people at their level, an under-the-table racketeering report was virtually an engraved expression of interest. Anders would have to make an appropriate response.

"Yes, Mr Anders," Nessa said. He didn't dismiss her, taking the time to walk round his desk and sit comfortably before he spoke again.

"Did your investigation find anything useful?"

"There are some environmental protesters objecting to the location of the Endbringer shelters near New Orleans." Max considered it.

"Throw some zeros in their begging bowls."

"But Max," Nessa hesitated, "they're not our sort of people."

"Then, Nessa dear, when they die because there's no shelter, it doesn't matter." And no chance of it being traced to the E88, Max thought, and smiled. "Meanwhile, please get my car ready."

"Max?"

"It''s time I got my son back to associating with the right sort of people. Personally."

#

"Max." Kayden paused as she saw her ex-husband through the spy-hole. He'd never been to her apartment since the divorce. It wasn't hard to guess why he was here now: Thomas. She wasn't going to give him anything he could use for ammunition.

"Kayden," he replied, in kind. She opened the door to let him in, the perfect society hostess expression on her face.

"I have a new home security system. This is being recorded." Hidden camera footage might help the custody case if Max didn't know about it, but it would be no good if she was dead. He smiled approvingly, as if the man had any right to approve or disapprove of her in her own home.

"Very wise, for a woman living on her own." So, that was the game he was playing.

"I'm surprised to see you," she said, without a hint of rancor. "You never picked your son up before."

"Delegating driving duties hardly makes me an absent parent," Max reproved, still smiling. He'd always been better than her at this and she saw no way to respond – if she said he needed to spend more time with Theo that played straight into his hands, and if she said anything negative, Max's lawyers would scream parental alienation. Any accusations had to come from Theo himself, and he was too beaten down to speak up. That would be up to his lawyer to deal with.

"Theo?" Kayden called, and the boy ran through. He stopped dead in the doorway as he saw Max. "Do you have everything?" she asked, before Max could say something sharp about his son's reaction. Theo muttered something about getting his bag, looking at his shoes and not his father.

"If he doesn't, I'll send someone for it," Max said, smoothly, as Theo shuffled back to the bedroom.

"Call first. I might be at work." And if Max thought she'd let anyone who worked for him in her apartment while she wasn't here...

"Of course." He said it as if he'd never considered anything else. "If you need someone to look after Aster?"

"I have arrangements." She cut him off, too sharply. Max knew he'd hit a nerve, and he'd done it deliberately.

"Kayden, is it so unreasonable to care about who is looking after my child?" He took a single step forward, towards the bedroom, co-incidentally forcing her to step back. He was so good at sounding like the soul of reason, and if she exploded as she wanted to he'd subpeona her security tapes and make her look unreasonable in court.

"When you already know and approved of them?" she retorted, "Max, stirring problems now looks rather like harassing your ex-wife. Some might say you were jealous."

"But you know me better." Yes, she did. The controlling bastard was less jealous than he was upset he might not have her under his thumb any more.

"The man_ I thought_ I married would never have done that," she sighed, "but then I didn't know you as well as I thought." It was clumsy, but it got the point across. They weren't married any longer. He ignored Theo, looking passed him into the bedroom at the small crib.

"You know, I do have two children, Kayden." White-hot binding rage rushed through her, and Theo made a small, abortive, move forward. Max didn't turn a hair. "I'm sure Theo would like to spend more time with Aster, and it gets her away from unsuitable influences."

"We've been divorced for two years, Max. You don't have the right to control who I see."

"But I have the right to be concerned about their influence on my children."

"What could you object to about a decorated P.R.T. veteran?" she asked, innocently, hoping the bastard would say it for the tape, but knowing he wouldn't.

"Nothing. Thomas is a charming man, and the things I could tell him about you..." Max didn't even look at her, picking up a small statue off the side and turning it over in his hands. Had he just threatened to out her? If her power had eye-beams, Max would have been dead on the spot. She'd lose everything, but then, she would have nothing left to lose.

"Likewise, Max." If he outed her, she'd take him down with her with no hesitation at all. He put the statue back just out of place. A petty power play, and it made her feel better that he was resorting to something so trivial.

"That was a very nice necklace you were wearing the other night." The non-sequiteur threw her. Even a simple conversation with her ex-husband felt like tiptoeing through landmines. One misstep and there would be blinding light and shrapnel everywhere.

"Thank you." She fell back on bland niceties, recalling her only rule for Max: commit to nothing.

"A gift from Mr. Calvert?"

"It was very kind of him."

"Very kind indeed. I look forward to seeing it on future occasions." Now that was just petty.

"Only if it goes with my outfit." She certainly wasn't going to ask Thomas to buy her jewellry just because of Max.

"I didn't know you were that close." Actually they weren't. Thomas had been wonderful to her, but there were still limits. Although the more Max protested, the less they mattered.

"He's a good friend." She was an adult, and she wasn't going to sleep with someone just to spite Max.

"Just a friend?"

"Just a friend." Kayden didn't know how long she could keep this up, but from Max's pleased smile as she'd said something he could use. His benevolent concern radiated.

"He's doing a lot for just a friend." He warned, "Are you sure he's doing it for you? Ulterior motives are so common at this level."

"Max, you're jealous." She didn't care how blunt she was, she wanted him out of her house now. "And you have your weekly meeting at six. You'll be late."

"They'll wait for me. I always have time for my children." He looked over Theo's head into the bedroom. She wanted to scream at Max to just get out, but it was the worst thing she could do. She had to stay reasonable for the tape.

"And Aster has a bedtime," she said.

"She's asleep," Theo said, quiet and unexpected. Kayden It was a statement of fact, offered carefully in a way that gave his father no excuse to react, except that it had been made at all. "I've got my bag." He held it up, blocking the doorway as he did. Max barely reacted, but she knew the boy would pay for that later.

"Good." Max turned on his heel, strode for the door, not looking to see if Theo was following. The boy knew his father too well to be less than a step behind. Kayden knew she should have said goodbye, knew she should have told Theo to call her if he needed anything, but instead she closed the door, leaning against it as she shook. Then she hurried to the bedroom. Aster was sleeping, peacefully in her crib, and gently Kayden reached down, held a hand above the baby's mouth. The child's breath was slow and regular. The tension went out of her in a rush, but she had one more thing to do, only one person who could keep Aster safe. She picked up her phone from her pocket, dialled the number. It was answered instantly.

"He's taken Theo," she said, down the phone. "He took Theo, and he threatened to take Aster."

"I'll be there in ten. Hang on." Kayden didn't say goodbye, just put the phone down. Then she picked up Aster and held her tight, cradling her as the baby shifted in her sleep.

She was twenty-nine now. The first crow's feet were showing. Ten years as Max's right-hand enforcer, and she'd thought she knew him better than anyone. It only took eleven months of marriage to find out what he truly was.

She'd triggered at sixteen, Theo's age, and that seemed so very young now, but she'd been an adult when Max made his move to marry her. Still, she'd been sixteen when the car rolled, sixteen when she first went out as a cape, and seventeen when the Medhall heir first took an interest. She'd been so proud, stood by him over the years as he made his speeches for the cause, tried to be the woman he wanted her to be, moulded her own beliefs to match his, dropped the friends he didn't like that wouldn't fit in with the Empire. Grieved with him when Heith had died. Then she married him and found out everything was a lie. Was she too old to start over?

#

Calvert was actually there in fifteen. It had taken an extra five minutes when he had to restart realities from the PRT Headquarters. Anders' assassin had abruptly ended the reality where he was leaving from his home. He hoped it was a planned attempt. Opportunists were harder to predict, and if Anders had put a price on his head hgh enough to attract them, he'd have random factors coming out of the woodwork. It would be easy enough to find out, and in this reality some of his men were picking up the culprit right now. As far as Coil was concerned, you could most definitely hold people accountable for things they hadn't done.

Kayden opened the door, her relief poorly hidden. He smiled, smoothly and disarmingly.

"Sorry. Traffic. Are you OK?" She nodded, ushering him in and closing the door. As it shut, he pulled her into a hug, careful not to rumple what he was holding in his hand. She cast a quick nervous glance at the bedroom, and pushed away.

"He took Theo." She turned her back on him, shoulders slumping. "Coffee?"

"Aster?" As he followed her, he checked the crib quickly. The little girl was sleeping, undisturbed by all the fuss. Coil expected no less. Kaiser was an idealogue, not an idealist, and even if he believe what he preached, Kaiser wasn't stupid enough to harm Purity's child in front of her at point-blank range. In the kitchen, Kayden was getting two cups out, coffee machine already churning.

"She's here. For now. Max threatened-" Her fist was clenching round the cup she held. Calvert stepped up behind her, making sure she heard him move, resting one hand gently on her shoulder and deliberately didn't look at her hands. It was far too early for her to out herself to him.

"Threats are worthless. You're her mother." Gently he began to rub her shoulder, working at the tense muscle until she relaxed. "We knew we couldn't stop him taking Theo. That doesn't mean Max can keep him."

"And how are we going to stop him?" Calvert smiled, holding up the gift he'd brought. Flowers would be inappropriate, but the sheaf of papers with the unmistakable attorney's header certainly caught her attention. He'd had the data for months, but Kayden didn't need to know that.

"I've had my lawyers on it. This morning they found something very interesting about Theo's trust fund."


End file.
